The City of Antune
The legend of the underwater city of Artune starts towards the end of the Tarri-Dwarven war. Many rebellions began to appear after the Tarri lost 3/5 of their forces at the Battle of Dragon's Hold, many of the Tarri's soldiers fled in droves trying to escape the increasing violence in Tallia. Orckish slave owner, Gonbar Hal'owa was a spearhead of a major effort to find a new home for the Tarri amongst the Chinikans. Gonbar was desperate, and made a deal with the wise Chinikan foxspirit, Nakanai. For Nakanai to pass down its wisdom and knowledge to Gonbar, he needed to promise three things: first, he would take a bottle of blessed sake to the top of an ancient Chinikan mountain and pour its contents on a holy spirit tree; second, he would name the creation made from Nakanai's knowledge after the spirit to honor it's gift to Gonbar; and third, Gonbar would plant the sapling of the spirit tree and bless it with a drop of the blessed sake every full moon. Gonbar did the first task as required, and the spirit blessed him with knowledge. Using this knowledge and the vast wealth of his family, Gonbar was hard at work building a grand structure. So impluasible a feat that no one had ever even considered its possibility! Gonbar erected a vast metallic ship at least half the size of Chinika, floating on the ocean surface as if magic! The massive structure then departed with all the Tarrians that followed Gonbar and all the Orckish slaves. The ship then departed to a spot of ocean between Mayura and Western Danika; Suddenly, ports towards the bottom of the ship opened, releasing stored air and filling with water, and the ship sank to the bottom of the ocean. The ship settled, its end resting just before the edge of a chasm leading to the inky darkness of damnation. The now secured ship, had four glass domes forming a triangle, the largest, being in the middle, which would house all manufacturies and stores, the two on either side would house either the Orcks or the "worker" class Tarri. And the smallest, but still enormous, doem towards the top of the triangle would house Gonbar's family and the noblility. Despite Gonbar's promise, he did not name the city after the foxspirit, he instead named it after his ancient ancestor, Antune. The week after. half of the foodstores were rotten unexplainably being that they were mostly all dried meats and other long-lasting foods. The populace panicked, with barely a month's worth of food, how would they survive? Gonbar calmed his people, proclaiming he would solve this issue. Gonbar later prayed at the spirit tree, he spilled only a drop of the holy sake onto the tree, and suddenly, Nakanai appeared before him. Gonbar demanded why he had betrayed their deal; Nakanai explained that by not honoring a part of their deal Gonbar had weakened the spiritual contract between them, it warned that if he were to break the last part of their agreement that his city was doomed. Gonbar pleaded, heart full of guilt and fear, that the spirit help him save his people. Nakanai said that there is but one way, he must sacrifice the one thing most precious to him. Gonbar looked puzzled, but the spirit offered no clues as to what it means. Gonbar had concluded that he must sacrifice his first born son, Farrian, he brought him before the tree and slit his throat. The night after, Gonbar had a vision of a great armor that would allow his people to move among the sea floor, allowing them to fish and harvest many of the strange and exotic herbs. And it had appeared to Gonbar that his sacrifice, and greatest shame, had worked, his people rejoiced as they were smothered in rare and undiscovered plants and fish species. Gonbar would carfully tend to the spirit tree for many years until one day, when his wife, Elithia, discovered the truth behind it all, she was outraged and attacked Gonbar in their chamber, where the spirit tree was kept, she killed him and the tree was bathed in his blood. Many years later the city would then face a crisis. During a great lack of food, many of the people grew restless with unfair rationing benifiting the nobles, and the Orcks grew tired of their mistreatment. Son of an ancient Orck chieften, Gungdar Thunderfang would head a rebellion that would split the city between the Orcks and the Tarri. The war led to a stale mate with many of both sides dead, among the casualties were Gundar, and the fair queen of the Tarri, Elithia. It was then that Nakanai would appear for the finale time, at the great battlefield towards the entrace of the Nobles' dome, where the war reached its conclusion. Nakanai explained Gonbar's misdeeds, and that he had only temporarily saved his city, for he had not sacrificed the truly most precious thing he possesed, his pride. And so Nakanai cursed both sides, merging them into one and twisting their bodies; Gills appeared at the sides of their abdomens, their skin paled, the tarri became a bright pearl white and the Orcks adopted a pale blue hue. It was then that Nakanai's prophecy had come to fruition, for it was not their bodies that doomed them, but the destruction of the glass domes that doomed them to live forever in the deep dark of the sea, never to feel the warmth or the comforts beyond that of a primitive animal.